Production line at the Cepina Levissima Factory, Italy

From 2003 until 2005 I was heavily involved as a Solution-Focused Coach / Consultantin support of a major Organizational Development Project for Sanpellegrino, the Italian bottled-water company owned by Nestle Waters.

It is one project I am still very proud of.

Here is one lesson learned re Coaching and Organizational Development:

Coaching was introduced as a way of helping them once they were already facing problems, i.e. first they were given the new role and thrown into the field, then they were offered the opportunity of having a coach to help them meet the challenges they were facing. I believe this is a key success factor. First, coachees need to experience the problem so they can experience the need for coaching. In this scenario, management does not need to sell coaching – quite the opposite, management can play the role of the saviour by graciously offering them this much-needed support.

You can read the whole case study I wrote for eO&P (e- Organisations and People) and published in November 2010 here.